《纽约时报》记者签证申请仍在考虑中

Three days after New York Times correspondent and his family were forced to leave the mainland after he wasn't issued a new visa by year's end, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has responded to say his application is still under consideration.

在《纽约时报》(New York Times)一名记者因没有在年底前获得新签证而被迫和家人离开中国大陆三天后，中国外交部回应说，仍然在考虑这名记者的签证申请。

Chris Buckley, 45 years old, is a longtime foreign correspondent in the mainland. Previously a reporter with Reuters news agency covering Chinese domestic politics and other topics, Mr. Buckley joined the New York Times in September. Authorities have yet to grant him a 2013 visa to report for the Times from Beijing, and he was forced to leave the mainland on Monday as his old Reuters visa prepared to expire.

现年45岁的储百亮(Chris Buckley)是一个长期在中国内地进行报道的驻外记者。他在去年9月加入《纽约时报》，此前是路透社(Reuters)负责中国国内政治和其它资讯报道的记者。有关部门尚未向他签发2013年的签证，这样他还不能在北京为《纽约时报》做报道。本周一，由于他在路透社工作时获得的签证即将到期，他被迫离开中国大陆。

'The Chinese government always deals with issues related to foreign correspondents in China based on law and regulation,' the Foreign Ministry said in a written response to questions. 'His application is still under consideration,' it added.

中国外交部在一份书面答复中说道，中国政府一贯根据法律法规处理与在华外国记者相关的问题。储百亮的申请仍然在考虑之中。

Mr. Buckley, an Australian national, has declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman for the Australian embassy in Beijing has also declined to comment.

储百亮是澳大利亚人，他拒绝对此事发表评论。澳大利亚驻北京使馆的一位发言人也拒绝置评。

A foreign ministry spokeswoman denied that Mr. Buckley had been forced out of China. She said that Reuters had failed to follow regulations by reporting Mr. Buckley's departure from the agency. Therefore, as far as the foreign ministry was concerned, he was still at Reuters, and the agency had not applied for a visa extension.

外交部一位发言人否认储百亮是被赶出中国。她说，路透社没有按规定报告储百亮离职的情况，所以在外交部看来，他还在路透工作，路透没有申请签证延期。

Don Durfee, the North Asia general manager for Reuters, confirmed that Reuters hadn't canceled Mr. Buckley's visa and had instead let it expire at the end of the year.

路透北亚总经理德菲(Don Durfee)证实，路透没有取消储百亮的签证，而是任由签证在年底到期。

In a statement this week, the Times' executive editor, Jill Abramson, said she hoped 'the Chinese authorities will issue him a new visa as soon as possible.'

《纽约时报》执行主编阿布拉姆松(Jill Abramson)本周在一份声明中说，她希望中国政府能尽快向储百亮发放新的签证。

Western news agencies operating in China routinely face long waits for new journalist visa approvals.

在华西方资讯机构在等待有关部门批复新的记者签证申请时，往往要等很长时间。

The Times' website has been blocked in China since at least October, when the newspaper published a lengthy investigation into the family of Premier Wen Jiabao. The Times alleged Mr. Wen's family had controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion. Mr. Wen's family has said the report is untrue, and the Foreign Ministry said the Times story 'blackens China and has ulterior motives.'

至少从去年10月开始，《纽约时报》网站在中国内地就一直被屏蔽。当时该报刊登了一份针对中国国务院总理温家宝家人的长篇调查报道。《纽约时报》当时称温家宝的家人控制了至少价值27亿美元的资产。温家宝的家人说，报道不实。中国外交部当时说，报道抹黑中国，别有用心。